StartupHoyas MBA

StartupHoyas MBA is the professional club dedicated to entrepreneurship for MBAs at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. Each year, the club sponsors speakers, collaborative workshops, networking opportunities, and educational events to connect Georgetown MBAs with the dynamic and growing Washington, D.C. entrepreneurial community.

Additionally, StartupHoyas MBA helps students connect with Georgetown’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, recruits students for the InSITE Fellowship, helps facilitate Georgetown’s participation in the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), and helps recruit MBAs for Georgetown’s Venture Fellows program, a unique fellowship that allows Georgetown MBAs the chance to work in venture capital during their first and second years.

The InSITE Fellowship is a highly competitive two-year leadership development program comprised of exceptional graduate students at top universities. We identify talented students from a diverse range of backgrounds and connect them with hand-picked, high-potential emerging companies in a variety of industries. Students meet with founders and company leaders, identify key challenges and opportunities, set deliverables, and complete semester-long consulting projects that contribute to real growth. Companies span a range of industries, including software and hardware, healthcare and life sciences, cleantech, enterprise services, education, consumer goods, entertainment + media, social ventures, and financial services. InSITE Fellows and alumni make up a global network of entrepreneurs and leaders in technology and venture capital. Applications for the InSITE Fellowship open each year during the August pre-term. For more information, visit: insitefellows.org.

Venture Fellows

The Georgetown MBA Venture Fellows Program is designed as a unique one-year apprenticeship in a venture capital or private equity firm. Students gain valuable hands-on experience in VC/PE, while firms benefit from high-quality work and the continuity of having an “intern” for longer than a few weeks. The Georgetown MBA Venture Fellows are selected in January/February and during the spring semester work approximately 10 hours per week for a venture firm doing tasks such as due diligence, deal sourcing, and assisting portfolio companies. During the summer, Fellows work full-time as summer interns in the firm, and may be paid a market-rate wage, which varies by firm. When the fall semester starts, Fellows return to part-time work for approximately 10 hours per week. The apprenticeship ends in December, although Fellows may continue to work for the firm after that time if both parties so desire. Fellows are eligible to receive academic credit during the spring and fall semesters by completing an independent tutorial project with a faculty sponsor. Applications for MBA Venture Fellows open each January.

Venture Capital Investment Competition

VCIC is an exciting competition in which MBA students play the role of venture capitalists and evaluate actual companies. VCIC is designed as a training ground for future venture funders and aspiring entrepreneurs, and as a marketplace for live entrepreneurs seeking investment. Unlike business plan competitions in which students pitch their ideas to investors, at VCIC, students play the role of investors and entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to them. Add to the mix a dozen VC judges, and you have a “win-win-win”: students learn (and win cash prizes), entrepreneurs connect with potential investors, and VCs get an early peek at some viable and attractive deals. For MBA students, Georgetown holds a multi-round internal competition to select the team that advances to the Regionals. We also host a Regional VCIC, welcoming teams from six top-ranked MBA programs to compete at Georgetown. The program was created at UNC Chapel Hill and is now in its 17th year. The first round of VCIC takes place during the Fall Semester, and the winning team continues on to national competitions throughout the Spring semester.

The StartupHoyas Summer Launch Program is a startup incubator program designed specifically for current Georgetown students and recent graduates who want to launch a new venture. Startups accepted to participate in this selective two-month program will receive dedicated support from Georgetown faculty, mentors and other experienced entrepreneurs, work space on the main Georgetown campus, introductions to local investors and entrepreneurs, invitations to exclusive networking events, and the opportunity to present your ideas to the DC entrepreneurship community. The Summer Launch program is an energetic and supportive community within which you can accelerate the development of your idea. The Summer Launch Program does not include any direct funding for participating startups, but many startup teams subsequently gain admission to other regional/national accelerators, or receive other offers of investment and support. Applications for the Summer Launch Program open during the Spring Semester.

Georgetown hosts a 54-hour Startup Weekend each fall during which groups of students and local startup enthusiasts pitch ideas for new startup companies, form teams around those ideas, and work to develop a working prototype, demo, or presentation by Sunday evening. Startup Weekend gives incoming MBA students the opportunity to launch companies within their first semester as well as learn practical business-building skills and strategies alongside their peers. For more information, visit: startupweekend.org.